scott123

@scott123, I agree aluminum would probably give better results. Unfortunately, the aluminum pans I've seen so far don't have sides high enough to properly bake a Sicilian. I'll keep looking. Regardless, I intend to use a different pan for my next bake.

Thanks for the explanation on how hydration levels affect browning. What sort of crumb and texture would a 60% hydration give to the crust? I remember reading a Slice article on Sicilian pizza where they compared the results of different hydration levels in the dough...from 60% to 80%. They determined that somewhere close to 74% was the ideal hydration level for a crust that was not too airy, nor too dense, and had some chew to it. How does this differ from your experience?

As for fermentation, how much more yeast would you recommend for an overnight fermentation? Next time I'm going to go with a 1-3 day cold ferment. Would the 0.4% IDY be sufficient for a longer ferment?

I considered the rolling pin because the Spumoni pie from what I'm told goes through a sheeter so I figured the rolling pin would have a similar effect. One problem I noticed was that the dough wasn't stretched as evenly as I would have liked. A rolling pin might help in that regard but then again, might ruin the airiness I'm after..

Chi_Guy, L&B might be using a heavy gauge pan, but, other than that, it's just a standard sheet pan.

Hydration and its effect on oven spring is not that cut and dry. The Slice article you read was a major oversimplification. There are a host of different variables to take into account when increasing or decreasing hydration. As you increase the water, fermentation accelerates, and the bake time increases. It's impossible to make identical doughs with varying hydrations and judge them side-by-side.

L&B is pretty stellar pizza. Is it the best representation of pan pizza? Definitely not. As you are starting out though, it's not a bad pizza to emulate. Once you've come close to matching it, then I'd work towards something better, perhaps by playing around with hydration. Norma's Detroit's have some of the best looking pan pizza crumbs anywhere, and I do know that those are a higher hydration, but that's a slightly different animal than Brooklyn Sicilian.

Go with .4% yeast and a 48 hour cold ferment. If the dough doesn't double by the time you bake it, increase the yeast next time.

L&B uses a sheeter to begin shaping the dough, but they finish shaping it by hand.